Transform your classroom into a New Year innovation lab with this 10-page, black-and-white STEM algebra project. In “Design Your Dream New Year Tech Device,” students act as junior engineers and product designers, creating their own countdown gadget while applying Grade 8 math skills. They work with surface area and volume of 3D solids, power and packing efficiency, cost and profit models, systems of equations, distance–rate–time, and even a touch of logarithmic reasoning.

Each worksheet includes 10 carefully structured problems and a themed illustration prompt, guiding students step-by-step from basic blueprints through optimization, pricing, and a final pitch. Perfect for January, STEM weeks, or algebra applications units that emphasize real-world engineering and design.

What’s Included:

Worksheet 1: Gadget Blueprint Basics – Shape and Efficiency
Skills: Volume and surface area of prisms, cylinders, and cubes; SA/V comparison
Task: Compare cube, cylinder, and triangular prism prototypes by computing volume, surface area, and surface-area-to-volume ratios to decide which design conserves materials best

Worksheet 2: Power Core Optimization – Battery Packing
Skills: Volume of rectangular prisms, percent efficiency, unit conversion, cost calculations
Task: Determine how many battery cells can fit inside a power chamber, account for packing efficiency, and analyze remaining space, total energy, and cost

Worksheet 3: Countdown Display Math – Pixel Layout and Power
Skills: Area, unit conversion, discrete “array” counting, function notation, multiplicative reasoning
Task: Model a pixel-based LED countdown screen, compute pixel counts and power consumption, and interpret a pixel function relating width, height, and total pixels

Worksheet 4: Connectivity Signal Strength – Inverse Square Model
Skills: Nonlinear functions, exponents, tables, domain and end behavior
Task: Use an inverse square function to evaluate signal strength at various distances and interpret why strong close-range security is possible while long-range strength drops off

Worksheet 5: Material Cost and Pricing Strategy – Cost Function
Skills: Linear functions, slope and intercept interpretation, percent profit, solving equations
Task: Build a cost model based on surface area and fixed costs, compute profit at a given sale price, and solve for maximum allowable surface area while maintaining a target price

Worksheet 6: Systems of Equations – Standard vs. Pro Models
Skills: Systems of linear equations, substitution, elimination, interpreting solutions
Task: Write and solve a system representing sales and revenue for Standard and Pro models, determine how many of each were sold, and interpret the intersection as a real-world solution

Worksheet 7: Portable Power Math – Recharge and Runtime
Skills: Linear functions in context, rates of change, inequalities
Task: Model battery percentage as a function of time, solve for key thresholds (70%, 90%, full), and write and solve inequalities representing minimum required charge levels

Worksheet 8: Firework Launcher Integration – Timing and Distance
Skills: Distance–rate–time relationships, function rules, solving simple systems, interpreting intersections
Task: Compare two drones traveling at different speeds and distances, construct functions for their travel times, find when and where they match, and align countdown timing with arrival and fuse delays

Worksheet 9: Speaker Sound and Decibels – Logarithmic Interpretation
Skills: Logarithmic scale interpretation, substitution into formulas, solving for unknowns
Task: Use the decibel formula to compute sound levels at different intensities, interpret why sound uses a logarithmic scale, and connect math to safe listening levels at the event

Worksheet 10: Pitch Your Tech Device – Final STEM Design Report
Skills: Integrated modeling with volume, surface area, linear functions, systems, and explanation writing
Task: Summarize the device’s shape choice, efficiency, cost model, profit margin, power and connectivity functions, and solve a small system or equation set before delivering a short math-based marketing pitch

How It Helps Students:

• Reinforces key Grade 8 algebra and geometry skills through a cohesive engineering design narrative
  
• Connects surface area, volume, functions, and systems to a tangible, student-created product
  
• Encourages multi-step reasoning, justification, and written explanation alongside numeric work
  
• Builds STEM identity by letting students “think like engineers” solving real design constraints
  

How It Helps Teachers:

• No-prep, print-and-go worksheets in consistent black-and-white letter-size format
  
• Versatile for New Year projects, STEM weeks, algebra applications units, or project-style assessments
  
• Provides ready-made contexts for discussing cost, constraints, and trade-offs in design
  
• Supports cross-curricular connections with technology, engineering, and career exploration
  

Solves Key Pain Points:

• Moves beyond isolated practice by embedding algebra in a realistic product design challenge
  
• Helps students see why surface area, volume, and functions matter in real manufacturing decisions
  
• Provides structure for mixed-ability classrooms: each page scales from procedural to explanatory tasks
  
• Gives teachers a ready-to-sell, classroom-tested style resource that fits directly into January pacing
  

This resource includes typographically styled fractions and exponents, along with auto-formatted elements, designed to expose students to a variety of visual representations. By incorporating both digital and traditional formats, students encounter mathematical expressions in ways they may not often see in standard textbooks. This approach enhances flexible thinking and supports adaptation to various digital tools, platforms, and real-world scenarios. It encourages a deeper conceptual understanding and strengthens students’ confidence with diverse mathematical notations.

If you enjoy this resource, be sure to follow my store to get notified when new products are released!